October 10, 2011

create . explore . discover . the afterparty

Drove through Donner Pass with snow coming down hard, and arrived in Truckee to sunshine and amazing spirits, ready to teach, to create and to explore and discover.

Got to spend some quality time with our amazing hostess Sarah Stevenson and learned that she is deeper, funnier and a woman with a BIG vision when it comes to both women and the arts.

Taught two classes. In the first one we created images for our pendants, and in the second we prepped and poured resin to create art pendants. Thank you to all of you who participated, you are all SO very creative and gifted.

In the moment, I was, well, in the moment, and now, of course, wish I had taken my camera out a bit more. But the memories are with me, and will be for a long time.

Got to reconnect with one of my favourit-est girls in the whole wide world: she is a treasure in my life.

Met the newest treasure in my life, and now have to figure out how to move Utah just a wee bit closer west. Any thoughts on how to do that?

If you are making a trip to Tahoe, I highly recommend the site of the Create Explore Discover retreat Cedar House Sport Hotel. They took such good care of us. The rooms! The down quilts! The meals! The land! The smell of piney woods and bread baking in the kitchen! Yup, pretty much Heaven.

AND further to that, make the trip there next year when Sarah will host the second annual Create Explore Discover retreat.

Did I say the food was stupendous?

What a treat this weekend was, all the way, through and through:

We created.

We talked about making it in this world as artists.

We laughed.

We went deep.

We taught.

We had poetry written just for us.

We shared our experiences.

We shared (a very few and an appropriate amount) tears.

We created some more.

We learned.

We visualised.

We shared bits and pieces of our loves.

We went back to create.

We laughed more.

We created.

Perhaps "The Girls" would want to include Creative Girl, Explorer Girl or Discovery Girl in their next line of socks!?!

A huge thank you to Sarah for putting this all together, and giving me my very first art retreat teaching opportunity. Big hugs and hand holds to Marisa and Denice. And more huge thank you's to all of you who arrived for a weekend of creating. Here's to the first of many more create . explore . discover retreats to come.